USDA Research: Pork from pigs exposed to H1N1 safe

Pork from pigs exposed to the H1N1 virus is safe to eat, according to a recent study by the USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS).

Findings support WHO recommendation

Researchers noted that sick hogs are not allowed entry into the U.S. food supply as per USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) criteria, but stated that their findings support the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation that pork harvested from H1N1-infected hogs is safe to eat.

StudyIn this study, non-respiratory tract tissues were analysed for the virus following infection of the young pigs with the pandemic H1N12009 virus. Researchers found that while the H1N1 virus can induce respiratory disease in hogs there was no evidence for systemic infection that would contaminate meat with the infectious virus, which is consistent with other swine influenza illnesses.